The Deal

Chapter 13 - Attack of the Dogs

{And I'm absolutely infinitely more scared of you than you are of me - and I've always been the one who cares too much...

- Passiona, The Smith Street Band}

Chapter 13 - Attack of the Dogs

"Well," Lucy sighed, staring down at the hay bale of fur draped across my school shoes. Which, yes, I was wearing. Bacon looked up at her adoringly. "Have you tried kind of shuffling your feet out from under him?"

I shot her a flat look.

"No. That never occurred to me."

"Hey! I was just asking," she huffed, defensive. "Do you think I can roll him off?"

"'Course you can. Think of all that upper body muscle you've built up in P.E. Just put your back into it. And if you're worried about getting bitten, don't be. The worst he can do is rip open your jugular."

We both looked at the oblivious dog in question, who'd decided, right as we'd been walking out the door, to throw himself at my feet (literally and figuratively) to prevent me from leaving. I'd tried to kick him off, but he'd become a dead weight. We'd done everything, from ignoring him to bribing him to using brute strength -but nothing worked. He could be unbelievably stubborn for such a bloody bludger.

"We have to be at school soon!" Lucy stressed, looking around helplessly for some sort of magical dog lifting device that we didn't have. "What are we gonna do?"

I was hoping it wouldn't come to this, but he was leaving us no option.

"Hey Bakey boy," I cooed, seeing his ears twitch at the tone of my voice. I braced for his reaction. "Do you want to go for a walk?!"

He was up like a flash, jumping around the front door and barking hysterically. I grabbed Lucy's arm and dragged her into the kitchen while he was distracted, closing the door to stop Bacon from following us. We slipped out the side door, looking back at the house to see Bacon peering gloomily out at us. He knew that we'd tricked him. I felt terrible, but it had to be done.

"Nice work, soldier," Lucy chirped, walking briskly ahead of me. "Now get your skates on. The bell goes in ten minutes."

We did a fast trot to get us to school on time; not wanting to be late but also not wanting to appear sweaty and unkempt on the off chance that we met the one. But once on school grounds, I wished we hadn't bothered rushing.

The affect that Damon had over people was astounding,  we knew that, and their loyalty to him was apparent as accusing eyes swung in our direction, brushing over Lucy to land on me. Some looked hostile, while others looked curious, but I became horrifically self conscious as we meandered our way through the gaping crowds. Lucy had prepped me for this over the weekend, informing me that people would show an interest in me now that everything was out in the open. But she hadn't told me it would be like this.

"Lucy..." I began uncertainly, but she held up her hand to silence me.

"You're fine," she said, smiling and nodding as we past people we knew. "Just ignore them."

"Anna."

The word was acidic; spat out by someone close behind me. I shouldn't have turned around, I shouldn't have engaged them, but I couldn't help it. It was a reflex action.

Raleigh Hughes' pinched face greeted me, standing with her arms folded, flocked by her equally disgruntled posse. I stiffened.

"May we help you?" Lucy asked primly, eyes narrowed at the troupe of Damon supporters.